CL&P Trimmed Fewer Miles Of Trees in 2010 Than It Did In 2001, Documents Show

HARTFORD — In the aftermath of twin storms that brought down untold thousands of trees and tree limbs across Connecticut, causing power outages of historic proportions, a state panel is taking a hard look at the tree-trimming efforts of utility companies.

Connecticut Light & Power, which saw more than 800,000 customers lose power as a result of the Oct. 29 nor'easter, trimmed fewer miles of trees in 2010 than it did in 2001, according to documents submitted to the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority.

Tropical Storm Irene on Aug. 28 caused more power outages in Connecticut than ever before, numbers that would be surpassed by the freak October snowstorm two months later.

"We've just have had two serious storms that have knocked down a lot of trees,'' Joe McGee, co-chairman of the Two Storm Panel, said Wednesday. "The obvious question is, are we trimming these trees aggressively enough?''

The public utilities authority monitors tree-trimming efforts and has the power to order utility companies to cut or trim trees. Both CL&P and United Illuminating Co., the state's second-largest power company, have a policy of trimming trees near wires that serve large numbers of people or have a history of poor reliability, more than those that serve fewer customers or a have better reliability record.

In 2001, CL&P spent about $22 million on tree-trimming; last year, the company spent $25 million

In heavily wooded Connecticut, utility companies are responsible for ensuring that trees near power lines are adequately maintained, but municipalities, the state and private property owners also play a role, said CL&P spokeswoman Katie Blint. A tree on private property across the street from a power line could come down, dragging wires with it, she said.

"We are responsible for the trees that are in proximity to our lines, but it's really a shared responsibility,'' Blint said in a phone interview after the panel concluded its session. "There are trees across the street that impact our system."

Several municipal tree wardens told the panel that they face several hurdles in ensuring ailing trees are pruned or removed.

"You need to get a resident's permission to trim on their property,'' said South Windsor tree warden Karl Reichle. "Some residents will give it and some won't ... and if you don't get the resident's permission, there isn't anything you can do statutorily.''

Some communities have robust and well-funded tree maintenance operations; others are essentially one-person crews with no equipment and a meager budget, Reichle said.

There are other pressures as well.

"A tree warden needs to know that when they make a hard decision, that as much political pressure that comes to bear won't affect them," Reichle said. "I've had numerous situations where I had to remove tree[s] in front of somebody's house — it might be three sugar maples that somebody loves — and I post the tree[s] for removal and all of a sudden somebody's calling their councilman and the mayor is calling me."

Tree trimming was one focus of the panel Wednesday. Members also heard from community providers, hospitals and home-care workers about how to better accommodate people with disabilities during an emergency.

The panel was initially appointed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in September to investigate the response to Tropical Storm Irene, which struck the state in late August. The group's charge was expanded in the wake of the October nor'easter.

"Many of our citizens have lost faith with their utility. You are a part of solving that problem,'' Malloy told the panel. "The recommendations that you make ... are all going to be the basis on which these companies, particularly CL&P, reshapes itself in response to these disasters and begins the hard, hard process of demonstrating to the citizens of Connecticut that they are deserving of their status as our utility company ... deserving of the monopoly status they have."

In the wake of those widespread outages, the public's faith in the company "has been shaken to the core and it is going to take a lot of hard work on their part" to get it back, Malloy said. He asked the panel to conclude its work and issue a report with recommendations by January.

The Two Storm Panel is handling one of several inquiries on the state and federal level that will look into how various entities handled the storms that battered Connecticut.